Baptism is the rite of admission into the Christian
Church, and practiced by all denominations. Its origin is most likely sought
in (a) the Jewish practice of baptizing
the proselytes, and (b) in the baptism of John
the Baptist for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). Jesus
underwent this latter baptism (Mark 1:9) and may have baptized his disciples
for sometime but never made baptism a critical part of his ministry. However,
the Christian tradition recalls Jesus' post-resurrection command to baptize
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20) as the institution of the rite.

The doctrine which attended baptism in the early church was variable.
For example, baptism might be for the washing away of sins (Acts 2:38),
a dying with Christ (Romans 6:4), a rebirth (John 3:5), or the occasion
of the gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). These multiple concepts
as well as the vagueness of the passages speaking of the baptism of households
(e.g. Acts 16:33) makes it nearly impossible to declare whether infants
were baptized, a debate ravaging many denominations.

The theology or the command to be baptized gained much momentum during
the third and fourth centuries with the writings of Saint
Augustine. Augustine connected baptism to original sin (see Great Myth: Original Sin); baptism
erased the punishment of original sin or the sin of Adam.
Coinciding with this was the belief that baptism confers a character upon
the recipient (who thus can never be re-baptized even after apostasy), and
which is valid even if administered in heresy or schism. Baptism permitted
the soul to be united with God otherwise it could never be with him. With
the acceptance of this teaching, becoming dogmatic, by the Roman Catholic
Church infant baptism became the norm. Augustine insisted unbaptized infants
went to hell. The Church hesitant to fully embrace this latter teaching
developed the concept of Limbo, a place of
eternal happiness to which unbaptized souls that have not experienced personal
so go but never see the face of God, but this too has come into doubt. Some
Catholic authorities say no one can say what God prepares for these souls.
Hanging in doubt for the objective observer who cares for children is the
condition of the stillborn, the unbaptized infant, and the aborted fetus.
One is reminded of the scriptural passage in which Christ rebuked his disciples
for not letting the people bringing their children to him. He was very displeased
and said, "Permit the little children to come unto me, forbid them
not; for such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter it."
He them took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed
then. (Mark 10:14-16) Christ gave no indication that the children were to
be baptized.

Despite of the above infant baptism remained the norm displacing the
delay of baptism until one's deathbed. Baptism was termed a sacrament and
remained so during the medieval theology. During the Reformation, in the
sixteenth century, Reformers modified this theology. Luther reconciled the
necessity of baptism with his doctrine of justification by faith alone,
regarding baptism as a promise of divine grace after which a person's sons
are no longer imputed to him or her. Zwingli, however, viewed baptism as
a sign of admission into the Christian community. Calvin taught baptism
only benefited the elect, those having faith without which it was not effective.
However the radical Anabaptists understood
baptism exclusively to be a response of faith on the part of the individual
to the gospel, thus rejected infant baptism.

Except among those denominations which now only practice baptism of believers
(chiefly Baptists, Disciples, Jehovah's Witnesses, some Pentecostals, and
the Plymouth Brethren), baptism
forms the first part of the Christian initiation to be completed in confirmation
(which in some Orthodox churches follows immediately).

Many adopted the view of baptism as being a sign of administration or
initiation into the Christian community. Their argument rests on the belief
that John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus signaled the beginning or initiation
of his ministry, which is asserted by the belief that Jesus, being the son
of God, was without sin, and therefore he had no necessity to be baptized
from sin. Baptism when considered within this concept dismisses the belief
that it remits man's guilt of original sin and its necessity to do so.

During the earliest forms of Christian baptism the candidate stood in
water, and water was poured over the upper part of the body. This was technically
called "immersion," but the term has been broadened to include
the dipping or submersion of the entire body under the water. The baptismal
application used in many Orthodox denominations is affusion, the threefold
pouring of water over the head, and exceptional baptism of aspiration or
the sprinkling of water over the head. A.G.H.